soccer Page 212 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Bristolmetrics: <i>ESPN</i> Navigates The Dark, Sportless Days Of Summer
When last we met, SportsCenter finally covered the Jerry Sandusky case, we found out if the Rose Bowl will stay on ESPN (it will), and Outside The Lines aired one of the year's most fantastic features. What would this week bring? ...
Hope Solo Failed A Drug Test
On June 15, the day before a USWNT friendly against World No. 2 Sweden, goalkeeper Hope Solo provided a urine sample that tested positive for Canrenone. Canrenone is not a PED, but rather a diuretic, and is sometimes used to flush the system, so it's a USADA banned substance....
Steve Zakuani Returns To Action 15 Months After Gruesome Injury, Embraces The Man Who Pulverized His Leg
Sounders winger Steve Zakuani wondered if he'd ever play soccer again in the months after a brutal sliding tackle from Colorado midfielder Brian Mullan in April 2011 snapped both lower bones in his right leg. (Here's video of that incident, for those of you with strong and empty stomachs.) More t...
Soccer Trophies Go Unclaimed After Tournament Ends In Shootout With Actual Guns
A Delaware soccer tournament came to a violent end Sunday after a shootout left one person dead and four others injured. Wilmington police claim shots fired between "multiple parties" led to havoc in the streets, with two of the alleged shooters in custody after wrecking their getaway car; both o...
A Rich History Of Games Played Without An Audience
The mid-Atlantic storms last weekend weren't severe enough to derail the AT&T National, but they were enough to keep fans away. All of 'em, actually, per the tournament's decree. So Stefan Fatsis, on this week's excerpt from Slate's Hang Up and Listen podcast, went looking for other great moments ...
This Is The Best Free Kick Goal By An Eight-Year-Old You'll See For Awhile
We have pretty much zero information on this, other than it showed up on YouTube today with comments disabled and in the wrong format. We could ask questions, but it's better to just enjoy what's a pretty outstanding free kick most adults would fail in an attempt....
Sorry, Mario Balotelli Didn't Really Make This German Fan Cry: How TV Lied To You During Euro 2012
In the 36th minute of the Euro 2012 semifinal, Mario Balotelli scored his second goal, a screamer to the top right corner. Balotelli ripped off his jersey and flexed, and the telecast cut to a woman in the stands, a German flag painted on her cheek, a single tear leaking from her eye....
"I'm Gay," Says Megan Rapinoe. "That's Nice," Says Everyone.
Entertainment Weekly just had a big story on the new art of coming out—quietly, almost as an afterthought. And it takes nearly 300 words into Out's story on U.S. midfielder Megan Rapinoe to touch on her oreintation. And even then it's subtle, almost as if an athlete's sexuality isn't their defining ...
A Final Moment Of Sportsmanship At Euro 2012, As Spanish Goalkeeper Asks Ref To Mercifully End Blowout
For a tournament that began with more than its fair share of racism and fan violence, Euro 2012 ended on a note more in line with the spirit of the game. Already down 2-0, Italy lost its last sub to injury, and conceded another pair of goals with just 10 men. In stoppage time, cameras caught Spani...
Mario Balotelli Impregnates Person
Ninety or so minutes of soccer ago, Mario Balotelli was playing like the best player on the best team in the world. Now he's going to be a father. That's some consolation, right?...
David Beckham Goes Nuts, Kicks Balls At Referee, Starts Shit With Opposing Team's Mascot
Look, Becks, we get that you're frustrated at Great Britain leaving you off the London Olympics squad. We get that. But it's no cause to grow an Austrian mustache and start trolling the world, as amusing as it may be to all of us....
The Weekend's Most Exciting Soccer Match Ended With A Coach Rolling Around In Tears
Let's set the scene: the home stadium of Buenos Aires side Chacarita Juniors, which finished 20th in Argentina's second division and was playing for its professional life. The stakes: remaining in Argentina's Nacional B. Chacarita was playing third division winners Nueva Chicago in the second leg ...
The Euro 2012 Final Would Not Be Complete Without A Couple Idiots On The Field
Spain rocked Italy today (or tonight, depending on where you happen to be watching) 4-0 in the 2012 European Championship Final. For a match without a lot of drama, things got exciting immediately following its conclusion....
Italy Beats Germany In Soccer, Vulgar Newspaper Headlines
Ahead of their Euro semifinal match yesterday, one German paper stuck a bunch of Italian players on a pizza and called it an insult. They don't know from insults. The Italians? They know insults....
The Foul-Mouthed Greek Coach Who Failed To Lead The U.S. To Soccer Glory
Germany smashed Greece, 4-2, in Euro 2012 last Friday. There would be no revenge for the not-austere-enough nation. On this week's excerpt from Slate's Hang Up and Listen podcast, genuine Greek Stefan Fatsis explores the team's tortured history (and the US's!) through Alketas Panagoulias, who rece...
Elton Brand: Not So Great At Soccer
Wednesday was Steve Nash's charity soccer game in Manhttan, and it provided a chance for both Salomon Kalou and Elton Brand to show off their skills. Kalou, most recently with Chelsea, took advantage of the opportunity. Brand just whiffed completely. [via The700Level]...
German Newspaper Has Brilliantly Lowbrow Front Page Ahead Of Italy Match
This is the front page of today's Hamburger Morgenpost, ahead of this afternoon's Euro 2012 semifinal between Germany and Italy. It's a thing of beauty, or maybe stupidity. Yes, those are anguished Italian players in the pepperoni slices. Germany is weird....
David Beckham Cut From Olympic Team
In something of a shock, it's being reported that David Beckham will be left off Britain's Olympic team. The 37-year-old will not be among the three players over 23 on the roster—those places will go to Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy, and in Beckham's presumed spot, Micah Richards, who was himself a surp...
Even Italy's A Little Racist Toward Mario Balotelli
This cartoon ran in Sunday's Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy's top-selling sports newspaper. It's Balotelli, fresh off the Azzurri triumph over England, climbing Big Ben. (Fun fact: It's officially "Elizabeth Tower" now.) Yes, Balotelli is playing the part of a giant gorilla, and yes, 90 percent of Euro...
Surprise, England: The Racist Was You All Along!
Boy, we all got psyched for some old-fashioned Eastern European racism, didn't we? "Stadiums of Hate," and Sol Campbell warning about twin black-hating boogeymen Andrzej and Andriy, and even England players leaving their families at home. Well, perhaps there's a lesson here, because not only did Eng...